Hempstead School District leadership laid out their plans Wednesday night to get Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School off of the state's list of struggling schools.

Superintendent Shimon Waronker gave an update to parents teachers regarding the district's progress since the state identified ABGS Middle School as struggling in 2015 and charted out a course of improvement.

"To begin…we'll start small learning communities in which there is reflection brought in for teachers…instructional rounds," Waronker says.

There are 45 schools on the state's struggling schools list, and two of them are in the Hempstead School District.

The middle school has met seven of the 11 targets of improvement, but its new principal, Adrian Manuel, says it's now time to tackle the harder targets -- ones that focus on academic areas like math and science. His plan involves personalized learning.

"We need to create smaller communities with tight-knit groups of teachers supporting 300 students at a time," Manuel says.

The principal adds that he hopes to have the school removed from the struggling list in 2 1/2 years.

There will be a meeting and update Thursday night on the district's high school, which is also on the state's struggling schools list.